I have an 83 280zxt with a P90A head. Here is my question:

I've got a bit of a tapping sound coming from the head, do I have to remove the hydraulic valve lifters and clean them to fix this? Is there an easier way?

Any help on this would be great, thanks.

283zxt
-Gabe

 

First, pull the valve cover and check your valve clearances. On a big rocker setup like a 280ZX has, 1 or 2 sloppy tappets will create a lot of noise. I have cured 1 280ZX of it's noisy valvetrain in under an hour this way. A valve cover gasket is the only part you should need, and should cost under $8 anywhere. The tools should be 3 beers, a ratchet, 10, 12, and 14mm sockets, a 16mm wrench, a screwdriver, and a set of feeler gauges (list based on memory, your results may vary). Just take the plugwires, engine cooling fan crap, and the pcv hose and you should be abe to yank the thing off. Just make sure you check the clearances at operating temp, I had an Acura last week that only gave clearance specs at cold, and sounded like **** when it warmed up. I had to tear everything back apart and tighten every valve .002, just on the outside of factory specs. I don't know your Z, but my '82 turbo specs .010 intake and .012 exhaust when hot, same as the nonturbo that year.

Bob

 

I also show 10-16 ft/lbs of torque, which seems like a ridiculously large range for such a low torque value. What I would do is set the inch/lb torque wrench to 120, tighten the bolts in a criss-cross pattern, then reset it to 192 and tighten everything again until the gasket just barely starts to bulge or the torquewrench pops, whichever comes first.

Bob

 

Well I do have hydraulic lifters, and the noise isn't that bad. You can't even hear it inside the car. It's just a bit annoying to hear that tapping when I'm out of the car standing near the front. Also my oil pressure is good, it runs in the middle of the gauge at idle, and around 3/4 at 50 mph. The car did sit in a lot for 2 years prior to my purchase. I have noticed that the valvetrain has gotten alot quieter than it was when I first bought the car. Could sitting for a couple years gum up lifters? I think it would. How hard would it be to remove/clean these lifters?

Thanks for your responces.

-Gabe